Pope Benedict XVI has declared that from June 28, 2008 to June 29, 2009 is the year of Saint Paul, commemorating the 2,000th anniversary of the saint's birth.
His Holiness is encouraging such things as liturgical celebrations, pilgrimages to the saint's tomb, scholarship, and various diocesan efforts around the world to focus on Saint Paul, whose contributions to the early Church can hardly be overestimated.
This report from Zenit goes on to mention something else:
Benedict XVI explained that this year must have an important "ecumenical dimension.""The Apostle of the Gentiles, who dedicated himself to the spreading of the good news to all peoples, spent himself for the unity and harmony of all Christians," the Pope said.
"May he guide us and protect us in this bimillenary celebration," he added, "helping us to advance in the humble and sincere search for the full unity of all the members of the mystical body of Christ."
The word "ecumenical" has taken something of a bad rap among many traditional Catholics; there was a time when the word seemed to be a code for the removal of all overtly Catholic elements not only of the Mass, but of Catholic identity as well, so that our Protestant brothers and sisters would not find our little quirks like statues and meatless Fridays and Eucharistic processions and Latin and incense etc. so terribly off-putting, and would see us instead as fellow casserole-baking and hymn-singing Christians, just like everybody else.
I may be engaging in just a little hyperbole, there. But traditional Catholics know what I mean. As aggravating as the misguided notion that we weren't supposed to adhere to our various Catholic customs in the era of ecumenism could be, this was nothing compared to what sometimes seemed like a wrongheaded attempt to water down central Catholic teachings and doctrine so as not to stand in the way of ecumenical goals--to disregard some very important truths for the sake of inclusiveness and the reaching out to those who don't share our faith.
It is very desirable, of course, that Christians of all faith traditions should be able to find common ground, places for unity to flourish, and ways that we can work together to advance the kingdom of God. But it is counterproductive for any faith involved in ecumenical initiatives to diminish those very real distinctions which separate us, and it is especially unbecoming, from my perspective as a Catholic, for Catholics to do so. The things that separate us from many of our fellow Christians are not small unimportant questions of semantics, nor are they mere customs or devotions which have arisen over the centuries; rather, they speak to our understanding of Jesus' words to us, in particular of two very important things He told us, one of which occupies the greater part of the sixth chapter of St. John's Gospel, and the other of which can be found in St. Matthew's Gospel, chapter 16, verses 18-19.
I'm not suggesting that the real disagreement concerning those parts of Our Lord's teachings means that we ought to stay apart from each other, and refuse to find any bond whatsoever. We do have to set aside our disputes and seek the fellowship that is available to us. But it will be a very false unity indeed if we pretend that these matters are trivial--for they are a central part of our understanding of what it means to be a Christian, a follower of Christ, and a member of His Mystical Body. Downplaying the significance of these matters by watering down Catholic teaching in an effort to pretend that we're all on the same page is going to backfire in the end, and has already, I think, begun to do so.
So when the Holy Father calls upon St. Paul to help us with, as he put it, our "humble and sincere" search for Christian unity, he isn't, I believe, suggesting that we overlook the truths of our faith, or stifle some of our traditions in order to appeal to those who don't share them--nor should we demand that our brothers in Christ hide from us their real conflicts with us. But we can, and should, reflect together on the words of St. Paul from the book of Ephesians:
I, then, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love, striving to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace: one body and one Spirit, as you were also called to the one hope of your call; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4:1-6)
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I agree with Erin (albeit from a Lutheran perspective) that it is counterproductive to downplay real distinctions and differences in belief and practice. It is neither spiritually nor intellectually honest to engage such a pretence in order to foster a pseudo-unity. In any event, however fractured the church visible may be, the church invisible (all true believers everywhere)exhibits the unity of the faith. As for St. Paul, he seems to take some distinctions pretty seriously: "But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned." Galatians 1:8
When churches place a high value on sharp exclusive lines of identity,
this can create an incentive to install leaders whose gifts are more academic, defensive, and contentious, rather than broadly pastoral. In my circle of conservative confessional protestant churches, the contentious non-pastoral pastor or elder is not an uncommon sight. I wish there could be some integrity-filled ecumenism that increases the incentive to install well-rounded shepherds, who spend more time on spiritual nurture of the congregation, rather than teaching the congregation how to 'defend the faith' against Christians from other traditions. Does Pope Benedict XVI have a specific idea for this?
I don't think there's much point in the Pope's talking about unity among the Christian churches. He claims primacy over all Christians, everywhere in the world. He claims to be infallible in his teaching authority, and he claims that no one can be validly ordained unless they received their ordination from the succession presided over by him. He insists that all Christians must bow the knee to Rome. The other Christian churches aren't going to do it. Even the rebellious Anglican conservatives are looking to Nigeria and not to Rome. The Pope will not abrogate his claim. Non-Catholics will not submit to it. Therefore, there will be no unity. So much for the prayer of Jesus that they all may be one. Man has willed it otherwise.
"He claims primacy over all Christians, everywhere in the world."
True, but in my (admittedly limited) understanding, he is much less concerned that others recognize this than a great many popes have been. He is not Innocent III. He seems open to reunion with the Eastern Orthodox, for instance, without insisting that they agree with the Roman version of papal primacy.
Now, as an Evangelical Protestant this doesn't do much for me, in that he clings to the importance of apostolic succession. But it's important to give proper consideration to others' (especially other Christians') positions in such matters.
I happened to wander over here and this caught my eye because I just blogged about pretty much the same thing and came to pretty much the opposite conclusion. I think that when we insist that there are distinctives which are more important than the unity which Jesus and Paul clearly command us to, we are engaged in idolotry. We may believe different things, but I believe it is bad for us as Christian believers and for the efficacy of the mission of our churches to think it is OK to permanently rip the church apart for the sake of preserving our differing beliefs - even deeply held beliefs which are important to us.
Anyhow, just another perspective fwiw.
theupsidedownworld.wordpress.com/2008/06/28/a-gathering-of-all-believers/
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